Edwards Weighs in on Clinton MLK Comments

"I must say I was troubled recently to see a suggestion that real change that came not through the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, but through a Washington politician," Edwards told the congregation at the Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Sumter. "I fundamentally disagree with that. Those who believe that real change starts with Washington politicians have been in Washington too long and are living in a fairy tale."

The remarks never addressed Clinton by name, but it was clear that the New York Senator was in the crosshairs.

Edwards continued to address in historical terms the theme of change to the audience of African-American church goers.

"Real change has never started in Washington," he said. "Real change came from those who fought in the trenches, those who shed their blood , sweat and tears and those who suffered broken bones. Real change started in Selma. Real change started with Rosa Parks. Real change started with the Reverend Dr Martin Luther King and the brave men who sat down at a luncheon counter at Woolworths in Greensboro, NC."

And in a somewhat unlikely turn, Edwards went on to praise his other rival Democratic candidate.

"This may come as a surprise for some you coming from another presidential candidate," he said, " but as some of you grew up in the segregated South, I feel an enormous amount of pride when I see the success that Senator Barack Obama is having in this campaign. And I'd be best to acknowledge that some days I wish he was having a little less success."